This translation is based on the edition by A.Degrassi ("Fasti Capitolini" , 1954).

For information on how to interpret the list of magistrates, see the Explanation at the end of this translation. The key to translations provides more information on the format. The numbers in red are the page numbers in Degrassi's edition.

This officially sanctioned list of chief magistrates was intended to be displayed prominently. It provided a means of establishing the chronology of the Roman Republic, and a record of the family history of the Roman aristocrats. It contained the following information:

The number of the year. In the inscription, every tenth year is dated from the foundation of Rome ("Ab Urbe Condita"), on the assumption that Year One, the foundation of the city, was in 752 B.C. So for instance, the year of the consuls M'. Valerius Maximus and M'. Otacilius Crassus (263 B.C.) is shown in the inscription as year 490. For ease of reading, in the translation, the equivalent year B.C. is shown against each set of magistrates. The inscription probably started with the first pair of consuls in 509 B.C., but the beginning of it has been lost.

Consuls. In most years, the Romans elected two consuls as their chief magistrates. Where names are shown without any title, these are the consuls for the year. However, during the years 426-367 B.C., the Romans often elected four or six military tribunes instead of the consuls.

Dictators. Dictators (with a magister equitum as their assistant) were usually appointed for a fixed period, or for a specific task. When the task was completed, they resigned. However, the inscription includes a few examples of "dictator years" - years in which a dictator was appointed in place of consuls; for instance, L. Papirius Cursor in 309 B.C. The inscription states the reason for the appointment of each dictator; there were some standard reasons, such as "to hold elections" (if the consuls were not available to do this), or "to manage public affairs" (in other words, to deal with a crisis), or more obscurely, "to fasten the nail" (in the temple of Jupiter).

Censors. Two censors were elected, in theory every five years (the period of a lustrum), to review the members of the senate and to hold a census of Roman citizens. The censors were the most senior of the regular Roman magistrates, and they were almost always ex-consuls.

The full names of the magistrates. The great majority of the magistrates in the Roman republic came from a few noble families. One way to distinguish between members of the same family with similar names was to add the first names of their father and grandfather, with the abbreviations f(filius) for "son of" and n(epos) for "grandson of", which have been kept in the translation. So L. Valerius Flaccus, consul in 261 B.C., is described as M.f. L.n. - son of M(arcus) and grandson of L(ucius).

A note of magistrates who held the same office more than once. As years were identified by the names of the consuls, it was important to note when the same man had been consul more than once; this is done by adding a number after the name. For instance, Pompeius and Crassus were consuls together in both 70 B.C. and 55 B.C. In 55 B.C. they are listed as Cn. Pompeius Magnus (II), M. Licinius Crassus (II). The same notation is used for the other magistrates, such as dictators and military tribunes.